House bill would ban landfilling of solar panels and related components; committee advances bill to general register

House File 1040, sponsored in committee by Representative Scott, was amended and recommended to be placed on the general register after a committee vote.

The bill, as adopted into the DE2 shape and with an oral clarification offered by the author, would bar the disposal of solar photovoltaic modules “or system installation components” and prohibit landfill disposal of wind energy conversion system components. Representative Scott told the committee the legislation was pared back from an initial stewardship-program concept and is intended as “a moratorium on the dumping of that stuff right now” to prevent potential human-health and groundwater harms. “It costs over $20,000,000 to clean that up and I just don't want that happening anywhere else,” Representative Scott said, referencing a hazardous-waste cleanup she worked on previously.

Why it matters: Testimony from state agency staff and several advocacy and industry groups focused on two issues: environmental and public-health risks if components enter landfill leachate, and the readiness of regional recycling infrastructure to handle increasing volumes of retired…